Seeing Scale there, in the Diamond Domain, Twilight reacted immediately, taking Star and putting him behind her with magic, something that seemed to worry the little foal.
"Scale" Heartbeat said.
"Hello, little sister" Scale greeted, without undoing his smile. "How are you?"
"I'd be better if I knew you were still in your disgusting cell chained with unbreakable chains all over your body" Heartbeat replied gruffly.
Scale giggled and said:
"I've always loved your sense of love. But I always wondered how it I could be to be like you. Looks like I won't have to wait much longer. When I absorb your light, I can finally know what makes you so special. And, after you, I can absorb shortly the Princess’d light, and then her little foal."
He took a step forward, but when he did it, Twilight’s friends put herself in the way.
"First you have to go through us" Applejack said.
"Yes, nobody touches our friend without tasting the flavor of my hooves" Rainbow Dash said, raising her hooves.
"Why you, common ponies, get always in the way of the powerful ones?" Scale asked. "Anyway, I don't have the patience to deal with you, so…"
And he charged his horn with magic and it was then that each of Twilight’s friends, including Spike, were telekinetically launched against a large diamond growing in the ground and then strong vines created by Leaf Mane’s magic appeared and tied them against the diamonds, creating then flowers that opened and launched a pollen that made them fall asleep. Seeing that, Star started getting scared and started crying.
"No!" Twilight exclaimed, turning then to Scale. "You're going to regret this."
"But I didn't hurt them" Scale defended himself. "Not even your pregnant friend. But I cannot allow obstacles in my way."
"How did you get here?" Heartbeat asked, moving to stay ahead of Twilight and Star. "We destroyed the original entry and created a new one."
"Heartbeat, don't take this in the wrong way" Scale said, moving a few steps. "The idea of hiding out in the Diamond Domain was not bad at all. But I think you forgot one small detail. It was me who created the Diamond Domain, as well as the Diamond Heart. Even with the new entry, I could find it, because it's it who called me."
Those words seemed to have some significance, because Heartbeat become bewildered when she heard them.
"No…" she said.
"So, you got it" Scale noted.
"What?" Twilight asked, who didn't understand anything. "What did you get, Heartbeat?"
"The Diamond Heart..." she said. "It is..."
"My matrix, yes!" he exclaimed, with a laugh.
Twilight realized then the reason for Heartbeat have stayed that way. The matrix of the Generals were only known by the Generals they belonged to and the Lord of Order, in a way to stop the Lord of Chaos to find them and weaken his brother. She knew that the Generals of Order had a deep connection with their respective matrices and, if the Diamond Heart was really Scale’s matrix, so it told him where Twilight, Star and Heartbeat were.
"I can't believe you couldn't get it" Scale said to Heartbeat, cynically. "After all, the Diamond Heart is what prevents the Light Kingdom from collapsing, even with your small outbreaks. By the way, I hated it when your little nightmares almost destroyed my diamond."
"For the record, that was the Lord of Chaos and Oogie Boogie’s fault" Heartbeat replied.
"It doesn’t matter" Scale said. "What matters is that the Diamond Heart's still in one piece, as well as my power. And hat power is about to be increased with the last special lights that are left in this world."
And he looked to Heartbeat, Twilight and Star in a greedy way, then continuing:
"I can't wait to put the pony world in perfect balance."
"That’s never going to happen!" Twilight exclaimed.
"No, Princess, it will happen" Scale assured her. "The Lord of Order created this world and those around it to be in perfect place, freed from the darkness of his brother. But his creation has been corrupted and it is necessary a firm hoof to bring back the paradise."
"Scale, I understand your desire to bring back the perfect work of our master" Heartbeat said. "But you're doing it in the wrong way. Absorbing the special lights will not solve anything."
"You're wrong!" Scale exclaimed, replacing his evil smile for an air of mock and disgust. "But what does a General like you have to say about the subject? You and the others do not take your work seriously. Your duty as Generals of Order is fight the darkness of Evil, something that you don't seem to be doing well. When the Lord of Chaos dominated the realms around the pony world, you preferred to seal them rather than clean up the mess that his villains made. You preferred to put the dust under the carpet rather than clean it! Well, if you don't know how to perform your job, then I'm going to do it. And, when I have all the special lights, maybe I will start for destroying the influence the Lord of Chaos has in this world and maybe then go to Wonderland to break the curse that the Queen of Hearts casted. I will make this world and others better when I get the absolute power. The Lord of Order will have pride of me and I will become his only General."
When she heard that speech, Twilight couldn't help but sympathize with Scale. After all, he just wanted to help defeat the Lord of Chaos once and for all. But he left his own obsession with the balance and his thirst for power take over him, which meant that his ideals were distorted.
"The Creation doesn't need Generals like you" Scale continued saying to Heartbeat. "Now, I can clearly see that, at least since I absorbed Mirror Coat’s light. I can see your dirty secrets."
"Secrets?" Heartbeat asked, slightly nervous. "What secrets?"
Scale giggled and said:
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You know, I'm shocked by the secrets that you keep hidden from each other. Like the one you and Mirror Coat share."
That seemed to have left Heartbeat hugely nervous. Her nervous was such that a diamond that was growing on a wall nearby broke into a thousand pieces.
"But of course, that does not compare to our General of Peace's little secret" Scale continued. "It's not that you and the others didn't know, Heartbeat, but I was quite surprised because you didn’t share this information with Princess Twilight."
Heartbeat became even more nervous than before and Twilight exhibited a confused look.
"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, turning then to Heartbeat. "What is he talking about, Heartbeat?"
"What do you think, Heartbeat?" Scale asked to his sister, cynically. “Should we tell her the truth?"
Hearing how Scale said that and seeing his mischievous smile, Heartbeat felt her anger starting to flow. Her horn began to accumulate a great amount of magic and then she released a magical beam at high speed against Scale. Combining his magic with Golden’s, Scale created a powerful shield that managed to stop her attack. But Heartbeat seemed really determined and did not cease the attack, continuing to increase its potency. Scale could feel the shield weakening and then decided to join Mirror Coat’s magic that mirrored the shield which absorbed Heartbeat’s attack and then returned it to her. Heartbeat was hit and thrown strongly against a diamond nearby.
"Heartbeat!" Twilight called, while firmly embraced her son who was crying because of everything that was going on.
"Not bad, sis" Scale said. "I have to say, you are the most powerful of Generals. You almost got me. But you forget that direct attacks do not work against me. Especially after I have absorbed Mirror Coat’s defensive power. Well, I think this is the time when I absorb your beautiful light, dear sister."
He began directing to Heartbeat, but Twilight could not allow him to do it.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Leave her alone!"
Scale stopped and turned to Twilight and noticed the look she had. He recognized that look. He gave a slight laugh and then he told her:
"You are just like her, Princess Twilight. Just like Princess Aurora. Always willing to protect the others. Now I understand what Golden Paladin felt about her."
Upon hearing that, Twilight asked:
"What do you mean?"
"That little secret that Golden Paladin has and that few know about" Scale said. "He loved Princess Aurora."
Twilight gasped when she heard that. Golden Paladin was in love with Princess Aurora?
"I think he was fascinated by her beauty and personality" Scale continued. "You know, I can't help but wonder if he has not projected the feelings he had for her in you. What makes sense, since you're the reincarnation of the great love of his life."
The confusion and the stunned invaded Twilight’s mind. What Scale said was true?
Suddenly, a pulse of red magic hit Scale and threw him against a wall and then a lot of loose rocks fell on him. Heartbeat approached Twilight and told her:
"Don't listen to him, Princess Twilight. What he said isn't true. Yes, Goldy loved Aurora, but he doesn't love you."
"How can you be so sure?" Twilight asked, uncertain in what to believe.
"Because I'm the General of Affection!" Heartbeat exclaimed. "Besides, I know Goldy better than anypony else. He loved Princess Aurora, but he knows that you're not her. You can be her reincarnation and have the light of original star seed, but he knows that you're not her. You are equal, but at the same time different. Besides, he knows that you love Blue and that you wouldn’t abdicate that for nothing. The only reason for him to protect you are respect, friendship and desire to protect the Light Kingdom from falling again. Please don't let Scale’s words affect you, that's what he wants."
Heartbeat's words were heard religiously by Twilight who understood they were true. Smiling, she waved, something that made Heartbeat smile too.
"Great, now we have to beat my brother" Heartbeat said.
"But how do we do that?" Twilight asked. "We can't defeat him and those rocks won't hold him forever."
Heartbeat thought for a while and then had an idea.
"I think I know" she said. "It's a little risky, but worth a try."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Princess, you have to absorb my light and combine my power with yours and use it against Scale" Heartbeat said.
"What?!" Twilight asked, not wanting to believe that Heartbeat was suggesting something. "But, if I do that, you're going to..."
"I don't care" Heartbeat said. "I've been turned into stone before."
"But it's not like that" Twilight said. "Steal the light from a star seed is… Well, I don’t know what to say."
"I know, but it's the only way we can defeat Scale" Heartbeat said. "My light is the most powerful among the Generals. If you combine it with the light of the original star seed, you will have enough power to defeat Scale."
Following that logic, Twilight concluded that Heartbeat was right, but even that Twilight would agree, there was a problem.
"But I can't do it" Heartbeat said. "You and your siblings said that Scale’s magic is unique."
"Yes, but only between the Generals" she replied. "But Scale’s power comes from the Lord of Order and the power of the original star seeds is above the power of the star seeds of the Generals of Order. You can do it, Princess Twilight. I know you can."
Twilight looked to Heartbeat that seemed to be completely sure about what she was saying. Although she think that plan was too risky, Twilight consented with the head, saying:
"Let's do it."
"Great" Heartbeat said. "But first, I have to warn you. Be very careful when dealing with my powers. They will tempt you in ways you can't even imagine. Whatever happens, don't listen to your emotions in the matters that involve the use of my power, okay? Your conscience must have the last world."
Although Twilight didn’t understand what Heartbeat said, she waved to her, showing that she would remember those words.
Twilight turned to his son, who had a great scared air. She took him with her magic and came to him, saying:
"Don't worry, honey, everything will be okay. Mommy will protect you."
"Mommy..." the little colt said.
And, using her magic, Twilight approached Star of a diamond and used a spell to put him inside, safe.
After that, Heartbeat then extended her hooves and Twilight held them with hers. After that, Twilight tried to focus, focusing on the desire to absorb Heartbeat’s light, while focusing her magic. It was then that her horn was surrounded by her magical aura and Heartbeat’s star seed appeared, shining with its red light. Shortly after, Twilight’s star seed appeared, filling the place with its pure and intense light. She began to absorb Heartbeat’s light and the General started moaning lightly, while the process was done. When it was over, the two star seeds went back to their respective flowers that disappeared. Heartbeat, exhausted, let herself fall on her hooves and looked to Twilight with a smile and told her:
"Now, it's all in your hooves."
And she turned into black rock.
Having received Heartbeat’s magic, Twilight felt a strange feeling in her. It was kind of a pain in her guts. It burned and was cold at the same time. She was happy, but for some reason, she also felt like she would explode with anger. It was as if her emotions had been wild.
The rocks covering Scale exploded and the General of Balance arose from the smokescreen that followed it. He then noticed in Heartbeat and then managed to detect her power in Twilight.
"But what have you done during my absence?" he asked.
"We were... preparing ourselves... to you" Twilight said, trying to still control Heartbeat’s immense power. "Now that I have Heartbeat’s power, I'm going to stop you."
Scale giggled and said:
"Despite everything, I absorbed ten different lights. I have a clear advantage. But fight against someone with the power of the original star seed and the red star seed will be a good challenge."
In the foyer of the castle, Blue recovered his senses, feeling the pain of the injuries he had suffered in his meeting with Scale. He then looked and saw the figure with the image of Princess Aurora and her six Generals destroyed, revealing a tunnel. Blue knew that tunnel lead to the Diamond Domain. Did Heartbeat take Twilight and Star to there and Scale discovered that? Before that idea, Blue had no choice but to find the strength to get up and move towards the tunnel. He had to save his wife and son.
In the Diamond Domain, the battle between Twilight and Scale was about to begin. She was the first to attack, throwing a magic beam against him, but Scale was able to defend and counterattack. Twilight turned and took off and launched more magic beams, this time combining his magic with Heartbeat’s. Scale also released a magical beam that collided with Twilight’s. The two beams began to measure forces, with each one struggling to get through the other.
Blue reached the Diamond Domain and was astonished with what he saw. The five mares and dragon who were his friends and Twilight’s were bound to diamonds with vines and unconscious, as Heartbeat was petrified in black stone and Star Knight was safely inside of a diamond. But what was more shocking was the intense struggle that was going on between Twilight and Scale.
The General, trying to defeat the Princess as soon as possible, put more energy in his attack that began to supplant Twilight’s. She, feeling it, just got a lot weaker, which made her down the altitude until finally landing. Finally, Twilight couldn't take it anymore and stopped with her attack, which made her being hit by Scale’s attack and thrown against a diamond.
"Twilight!" Blue called.
Scale approached her with the speed that belonged to Golden and told her:
"Now, if you don't mind, I'll take the two lights inside of you and then I'm going to take your son's light and so keep the absolute power over this world."
"No…" Twilight said, gasping.
Scale began to charge his horn with magic, but Blue, watching it, started running to there, screaming:
"STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!"
And he gave a strong shove on Scale that was thrown a few hooves away.
"Blue" Twilight said. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" he asked, helping Twilight getting up. "I'm here to help the mare I love."
That made Twilight smile. That altruistic behavior was one of the many things that she loved in her husband.
Suddenly, a force threw Blue against a wall, holding him there. It was Scales, using telekinesis.
"Blue!" Twilight called.
Scales arrived quickly in front of Blue and told him in a tone immensely annoyed:
"You're really a great trouble, aren't you? You should have been dropped in the foyer instead of coming down here."
"You don't scare me" Blue said. "I will never be afraid of a pathetic villain like you."
"That's what we're going to see" Scale said. "And you know why? Because this pathetic villain is about to put you out of existence forever."
And he charged his horn with magic and, painfully to Blue, he made his star seed show up. Since Blue became a light pony due to be living in the Light Kingdom, his star seed purchased the eternal white light common to any light pony.
"No!" Twilight exclaimed.
She tried to prevent Scale, throwing him a strong attack, but Scale conjured a protective barrier that blocked Twilight’s attack. Star could see the scene and said sadly, as if he was trying to call:
"Daddy!"
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked to Scale. "Scale, I'm telling you. If you dare to absorb his light…"
"Absorb?" Scale repeated, without stopping looking to Blue. "Who said I would absorb his pathetic light?"
"So what are you going to do?" Twilight asked, who didn't like the way things were going.
"I'm going to do something much worse than absorb his light" Scale replied. "I will destroy his disgusting star seed. When that happens, the light will simply dissipate and the one once known as Blue Sword will disappear forever."
And he gave an evil laugh.
Hearing that, Twilight was unresponsive. Blue would disappear forever? It was as if somepony was pulling out a piece of her.
"Let's begin, shall we?" Scale said.
And he began to throw a beam from his horn that hit Blue’s star seed. That made the prince start moaning in agony. Soon, cracks begin to appear in the star seed.
"BLUE!" Twilight yelled.
The fear of losing Blue and the anger she felt about Scale by making the ponies she loved suffer started to boil inside of Twilight. It seemed to be something that she couldn't control. Heartbeat’s power made everything worse, intensifying the fear and the anger in an exponential way. It was a matter of mere seconds till Twilight lose control over his own magic.
"LET HIM GO!" she cried out to Scale.
And with a gesture, she threw the General of Balance against the wall opposite to the one where Blue was, holding him. That allowed Blue to be released, though his cracked star seed continued visible. Then, Twilight put himself ahead of Scale with a speed that was characteristic of Heartbeat.
"How is it possible?" Scale asked, failing to understand how he could be overwhelmed so easily. "I absorbed more lights. I should be more powerful."
It was then that he noticed the intense red glow in Twilight’s eyes. They were eyes filled with anger.
"Oh no, it's the emotions" he said.
"You're going to pay for everything you've done!" Twilight exclaimed, making Scale’s star seed appear. "It's time to make you pay."
And with this, Twilight began to attack directly Scale’s star seed, who also started moaning in agony, while his star seed began to stay with cracks. Blue, seeing Twilight doing that, couldn't believe. That was not the sweet Twilight he knew and loved. It seemed to be a terrible dark version of her, as if she was being controlled by her own darkness.
"No, Twilight, stop!"
He tried to move, but it seemed that the damages caused to his star seed had limited his movements.
"He has to pay!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I know that, but look at what you're doing" Blue said. "You're about to do to him what he was about to do to me. Twilight, if you don't stop now, you’ll become what he is. Don't let him change what you are."
Blue’s words made Twilight hesitate, ceasing the attack that she was doing to Scale’s star seed.
"So, you're not going to continue?" he asked. "It seems that the princess of the Light Kingdom is not that tough as everypony thinks. Princess Aurora would not have hesitated to eliminate a threat to her kingdom, but it seems that her reincarnation is not trying to do the same thing. You're nothing but a shadow, a cheap imitation."
But Scale’s words had an even greater impact in Twilight, who failed in making his anger stop from growing. She prepared to cause further damage to his star seed.
"NO, TWILIGHT!" Blue Sword exclaimed.
When Twilight was about to attack once more, a little voice was heard calling:
"Mommy!"
That made Twilight look and saw that it was Star, who was watching from the diamond where Twilight had placed him.
"Mommy!" he called again.
From his little horn, Star released a small but intense light which reached Twilight. She then began to remember her happy memories of her true self. It was then that Heartbeat’s words sounded in her head: Your conscience must have the last world. The princess realized that there were other ways to end a threat to her kingdom that did not include becoming what she abhorred the most. She drifted away from Scale, who were released from Twilight’s telekinesis, and she ran up to her son. Getting there, she used a spell to free him and, when she held him in her hooves, Twilight told him:
"Thank you, my son."
And the two gave a big hug, with Star rubbing his face to his mother’s soft coat. Twilight then teleported herself and Star to Blue’s edge and the three gave a family hug.
"What would I do without you two?" she asked to her husband.
"Well, I don't think your life would be as wonderful as it is now" he replied.
That made Twilight release a laugh. Then her eyes went to Heartbeat. Seeing her turned into stone, Twilight realized that she still had another job to do: release and return the lights that Scale had stolen. She turned to him, approached him, saying:
"It's time to return what you took."
And, having said this, she began to use the spell that would take Scale’s stolen lights and return them to their respective owners. Scale’s star seed, although cracked by the abuse it suffered from Twilight, still glowed brightly. It was then that ten lights with different colors left. Twilight then concentrated and made her own star seed appear and made Heartbeat’s light leave it, collecting then the star seed.
With the ten taken lights now released, Twilight made them return to their respective owners. Heartbeat’s went straight to her and her star seed appeared, receiving the light. After that, the stone statue started to crack and became Heartbeat, whose star seed was collected. Realizing that she had been released, she turned to Twilight and told her:
"You did it!"
"Yes, with a little help" Twilight replied, making a gesture to the two stallions of her life.
The other lights soon returned to their respective star seeds. Once they did that, they released their owners, which have shown a great happiness to see they were freed. In addition, with Scale defeated, everything he had done was undone, like all those that he had frozen and who were subsequently unfrozen, or like Golden Paladin who has been released from the tree where he was stuck. Twilight’s six friends who were bind were released and they finally woke up. Seeing Twilight with Blue, Star and Heartbeat and Scale on the floor with his star seed cracked, Applejack asked:
"We've lost somethin’?"
That made everypony released a laugh. It didn't take long until the other Generals show up and make a bow to the royal family of the Light Kingdom.
"Thank you so much for everything you have done" Golden Paladin said.
"Golden, there's no need for these formalities" Twilight said, asking the Generals to stand up, something that they did. "We did everything together."
That made the Generals give a smile among them.
"And what's going to happen to that scum?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"He will be punished severely" a voice replied.
They turned and saw the Lord of Order appearing.
"Master" the non-corrupted Generals said, making a bow.
"Great, now you appear" Rainbow Dash said directly to the Lord of Order. "Couldn't you have come sooner?"
"Not while there was hope" he replied, looking then to Twilight, Blue and Star. "Something that apparently there was."
He turned to Scale and told him:
"Now us, Perfect Scale."
He approached him and, using his telekinesis, the Lord of Order lifted him in the air, holding him against the wall.
"It seems that sometime in the solitary of Tartarus weren't enough for you, and it seems that no punishment is" the Lord of Order said.
"Please, will you spend the part of the sermon?" Scale asked.
"Whatever you say, I shall communicate your punishment" the Lord of Order said. "Perfect Scale, from today on, you will no longer be the General of Balance."
That communication had shocked everypony, especially the Generals, as none of their group had never been removed from the position of General, but Scale was the most shocked.
"What?!" he exclaimed. "No, please! You can't do that!"
"I can, I will and I'm doing it” the Lord of Order said.
And he made a gesture and Scale’s light got out of his star seed and ended up in the Lord of Order’s hand. Without the light, Scale turned into black stone.
"Master" Golden Paladin called. "What are you going to do with Scale’s light?"
"Well, I'm going to create a new General of Balance, obviously" the Lord of Order replied. "Somepony more trustworthy than Scale."
"Oh, how exciting!" Heartbeat exclaimed. "A new General!"
"This isn’t a new one for centuries" Melody said.
"I wonder who will be" Purple Smoke said.
"You won't have to wait too long" the Lord of Order said. "I've decided who will inherit the light of balance."
And he turned to the royal family of the Light Kingdom, approached and then extended the light that was Scale’s to Blue.
"Me?" he asked to the Lord of Order.
"I can't think of anypony better" he replied. "You've proven your worth in several times. You managed to retrieve Golden Paladin’s star seed, passing its last defense; you tried to save Princess Twilight from having her star seed revealed by Fire Punch, risking becoming a dark pony; you saved Heartbeat from the nightmares created by Oogie Boogie, saving the Diamond Heart, and, today, you helped defeat Scale and also stopped Twilight from making the biggest mistake of her life. Given all this, I believe you will be a great General."
Despite the tempting invitation, Blue did not feel able to accept such a task. It was then that Golden Paladin said:
"It would be an honor to have you among our fraternity, Prince Blue Sword."
The other Generals nodded, agreeing.
"Completely" Heartbeat said.
"Come on, man, accept it" Rainbow Dash said. "It's not every day you have the opportunity to become a General of Order."
"He's the one who has to decide, Rainbow" Rarity said.
Blue tried to think quickly in a reply. He turned to Twilight, hoping she could help him, but she just gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him:
"The choice is yours to choose and doesn’t matter what you choose. I will always be by your side. As well as Star.
Star Knight hugged his father who hugged him back. It was then that Blue Sword decided:
"I accept."
"Very well" the Lord of Order said.
And he directed the light to Blue’s star seed. The light entered into the star seed and, doing so, it adopted Blue’s magic aura’s color. Its brightness then intensified and the cracks that have been created in the star seed disappeared.
"Congratulations, Blue Sword, from now on, you're the General of Balance" the Lord of Order said.
After he said it, Blue was bathed in hugs from Twilight, Star, Heartbeat, Leaf Mane, Melody, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike (Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke were the only ones who didn't join the group hug).
"I think now I can call you brother, isn't it?" Heartbeat said.
"Yes, I think so" Blue Sword replied.
"Hey, you know what this needs?" Pinkie asked.
"A party!" everypony exclaimed.
"Hey, I wanted to say that!" Pinkie Pie replied.
That made everyone come loose a lot of laughs.